[Ten Forward] Rooming Assignments | Round #3

[ten_fwd_npcs]

They are entering their third month of this nonsense, and Lieutenant Worf will never admit that the increased activity and responsibility is ... thrilling. He is as stone-faced as always, glaring out over the assembled crowd without a hint of happiness. The medical team have cleared through a new crop of passengers, all needing permanent lodgings. So Ten Forward is where you will find yourselves today, staring down the barrel at an unhappy Klingon.

As chief of security, it is Worf's responsibility to instruct everyone on the correct behavior and protocols needed for life aboard the Enterprise. It is his duty, and the captain's instructions, so he will handle this the honorable way. As he has done this before, he has a speech prepared:

"The computer will instruct you on where all cleared-for-access decks are. You only have to ask where the area you are trying to get to is located, and it will give you clear directions. Do not visit any restricted areas. The bridge, engine rooms, transporter rooms, and all command centers are off-limits.

"With that in mind, there are a few rules you must obey before I give you your new assignments. One, do not discharge any weapon while on the Enterprise. Two, do not assault any other passenger aboard in any way; that includes injury, death, or violating their personal rights. Three, do not tamper with the operational procedures of the ship. Four, do not steal items or technology from the ship. Five, do not interrupt any official areas of the ship without proper authorization, and do not invade the privacy of other guest or crew quarters.

"Copies of the Prime Directive will be made available to all of you, and placed in each room. As you are not Starfleet officers, you are not obligated to abide by this rule; however, it is important you understand why we do.

"Now, the rooms," he rumbles, reading off the list of quarters, their location, and the guests who will be sharing them.

Deck 07, Section 4
Room # 0741 - Seamus Harper and Clayton Danvers
Room # 0742 - KITT's hologram and Andrew McKee
Room # 0743 - Ginny Weasley and Topher Brink
Room # 0744 - Irian t'Aumne and Henry Gold
Room # 0745 - TWO SECURITY PERSONNEL
Room # 0746 - Tyr Anasazi and Telemachus Rhade
Room # 0747 - Chase Collins and Angeal Hewley
Room # 0748 - Dylan Hunt and Lucie Miller
Room # 0749 - Simon Tam and The Doctor (Eight)
Room # 0750 - TWO SECURITY PERSONNEL
Room # 0751 - Kaylee Frye and Laura Kinney

Deck 08, VIP Quarters
Room #0142 - Kathryn Janeway and Jonathan Archer
Room #0143 - Gul Dukat and Tora Ziyal
Room #0144 - James T. Kirk and John Sheppard

"I will remain here to answer questions," Worf concludes. "And my team will be standing by to escort you where you need to be."

The list is also displayed on a PADD, where people can refer to it if they need to.


[ooc: Open log for building CR with new roommates and meeting neighbors, "party post" style! Everyone should participate if and when they can, so they can get acquainted with who they will be rooming with for at least the next several months. Rooms are aligned the way they would be in a typical hotel: odd numbers on the left, even numbers on the right (so 0711 and 0713 will be next door neighbors, while 0712 is directly across the hall). There is an OOC post in the OOC comm where players can connect with questions, and where we'll post more details about the rooms themselves, so check in over there. If you need to ask security questions, or need them to swing by another thread, just put "Security officer, please!" in the subject line of your tag, and the mods will send someone to you ASAP.]

Comments

[osirian_doctor]

He gives a little laugh, one that aches with the hurt of what they've been through, with the longing he feels to be back in their own world with their own friends, with the losses they've suffered.

"Maybe I do," he agrees, softly.

This feels fragile, beautiful, even though he knows it's partly that's making her hold to him like this.

He wishes that holding her against his chest were as natural and easy and right as it seems now. But nothing has ever been natural and easy when it comes to Kaylee, to how he feels, has always felt, about her.

"They have to be."

He has to tell himself that. Otherwise, he'll go mad. They've lost too much already, all of them. And there's River to consider, River who he'd given up everything to find and is now ...

Back there. With them.

[meimeimechanic]

"You always looked after us. Didn't need any of this fancy stuff like. Think of what you'll be able t'do now." She doesn't doubt as soon as he can he'll be want to be helping other folk but that was what he did. He helped everyone. She could only see him taking that doctor oath very seriously. He just needed someone to look after him. Remind him that he needed to take some time out now and then. It would get to be her then.

Kaylee leaned back, "Cap'n will make sure they're all okay. He'll keep an eye on River. She'll probably be lookin' after them." She meant that. "C'mon, come in." She moved slowly away from him and reached for his hand. Kaylee may have started with a desire to just open the door and drag Simon inside to make up for the lost time and missed opportunities between them but it was then that she wanted to just spend some quiet time with him nothing more have his arms around her until she fell asleep like that.

[osirian_doctor]

"If they want another doctor. They seem to have a medical staff of their own." Unlike Serenity when he'd arrived.

There's so much going unspoken between them.

He knows, of course, what happens after you've been through a traumatic experience, and he knows that it takes time for the effects to fully hit.

He's been trying to fend off the full realization of what's happened and what that means for them now, here, but it's hard. Hard with Kaylee looking to him for support. Which he's never been good at with her.

The last thing River had said before she ran off to right the Reavers had been that he'd always looked after her and it was her turn. She'd taken that responsibility on herself then. What would she do without him?

He tries to smile, but it's hard. Even with Kaylee right there, in his arms, just where he's wanted her for so long.

He misses her warmth, her softness, when she pulls away, even though she takes his hand to lead him into her room.

Once they're inside, he reaches for her other hand. He doesn't know what to say, how to thank her for being there with him in the infirmary, how to tell her that if he had to be here, at least it's with her.

So instead, he tries to make a joke of what she's just said.

"She did a good job so far."

[meimeimechanic]

"Who wouldn't want you." She beamed at him, "I can tell 'em first hand what a good doc you are. Still got the scar t'prove it."

Kaylee sat down on the corner of the bed.

"She..." She looked at Simon and wiped a hand across her face. Even River wasn't enough to bring Wash back safe. "Wa..." Kaylee started but never finished his name. It dissolved into a strangled sort of noise as she tried her best to hold back a sob as she mentioned their pilot.

Wash hadn't followed them into that final battle and the way Zoe had been, the eagerness to go close up to those Reavers to take as many as she could out, risking her life like that, Wash was not going to be joining them again. It had been hard enough losing the Shepard he'd become like family to them but Wash had always been there. Making some joke and generally worrying until Zoe and Mal came back from whatever deal they'd been doing.

As mechanic she'd spent a lot of time with him. Staying behind with him on Serenity while Mal took Zoe and Jayne to do whatever job needed doing. There was even a time she ended up nearly dying with him when as salvage operation had taken a turn for the worse. Kaylee had ended up crawling through the belly of an older mark firefly in a scrapyard to get it working enough to allow their escape. She'd had to make sure he got back to Zoe then. As much as Kaylee could see that Zoe was capable more than okay on her own there was part of her that needed Wash, least that's what Kaylee thought. Same part that knew Jayne ran his mouth and said some horrific things at the time they least needed to be said but she knew if it was needed he'd be there for her.

They were family.

Mal had found each of them for a reason, if he knew it or not. Kaylee loved them all and Serenity.

[osirian_doctor]

Of course, if it hadn't been for him, she'd never have been shot in the first place. Kaylee may have forgiven him, may never really have blamed him for that, but he will always remember what it was like to see her, hurt and bleeding, close to dying, because of him.

To turn his back on the oaths he'd made and blackmail Mal with her life to save River's.

Not blaming him for that is one of the many wonderful things about Kaylee.

He's smiling at the compliment, but it fades, instantly, as she looks up at him, as her voice catches, dies, as she tries to speak.

He knows.

He'd heard what Zoë had said. He'd seen the darkness in her as she faced off the Reavers. He'd known. They all had.

And even if he'd had any idea what they were, there are surely no words that can do anything to console her for the loss of a friend, one so dear to them all.

He doesn't even try. He sits down next to her and puts an arm around her shoulder.

"I know. I wish ..."

But that's useless, too.

Everything he'd done, he'd done for River. To keep her safe. He'd just never imagined the cost.

[meimeimechanic]

She leans into him. Crying against his shoulder. Letting everything happen. Kaylee felt slightly better, not having to hold that in any more. A little of the weight from her gone. Though what use it was crying she wasn't sure. But that was her, when she was happy she smiled, angry she showed it and when she was sad she cried.

It wasn't exactly how she envisioned their meeting going, except maybe that Simon was finally sat on her bed.

After a while she started to calm down and she just couldn't cry any more. She still hurt but there were no more tears.

She hiccuped.

"Stay with me?" She didn't want to be left alone yet.

[osirian_doctor]

It seems entirely natural, seamless, when Kaylee leans further into him, and for once, he finds that he knows what to do. It's not hard, but it's hesitant, because he's never been good at this. At dealing with people. At trying to be the person there for them to lean on. Except River. It's always come naturally with River.

Kaylee, though ... with Kaylee, it's like he never knows where to tread or what to do. What will get twisted in his mouth before it comes out. Now, though, it's just instinct. It's holding her, it's making the same sort of gentle, reassuring hushing he would if it were River. It's letting her tears soak into his shirt and holding her tighter, tilting his head so it rests against hers, trying to keep tears out of his own eyes. Not always succeeding.

Everything's changed. Everything. They've lost so much, because he was trying to help River. And that killed their friends. Killed so many people.

Eventually, her sobs subside and the tears turn to hiccups, but he doesn't stop holding her. He doesn't want to. Never wants to when he's got his arms around her, now less than ever.

Not when she's all he has here.

"Of course," he says, softly.

It's not much. But maybe it's all he can do, and maybe it's enough.